AIIA: Prices to incorporate recycling costs

The channel will avoid much of the costs associated with future hardware recycling legislation if the findings of a recent Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) report are put into effect.

Produced in conjunction with Planet Ark, it has suggested a fee should be incorporated into the price of hardware to cover the cost of environmentally friendly disposal. A consumer guarantee - covering the cost of return and recycling - was also touted.

The proposals aim to provide a voluntary way for the industry to work toward a 'zero waste to landfill' goal in the face of a looming government mandate, AIIA general manager of strategy and policy services, James McAdam, said.

"Through eventual government legislation there will be some form of recycling process available," he said. "We are saying a recycling certificate or guarantee should be sold with computer equipment to cover the cost of this recycling."

The bulk of this would be born by consumers and vendors, with the channel incurring costs for the administration of certificates and guarantees only, McAdam said.

"The cost will be passed onto consumers but whether it is done transparently through point of sale or built into the price of products is up to individual companies," he said. "Industry will pay through a membership fee to a proposed Producer Responsibility Organisation [PRO], which will manage the scheme."

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